At ESPN Insider, Craig Custance writes that it is no lock that Zach Parise will pick a new team or sign a new contract on July 1 and because of the magnitude of the decision, he could take some time to think it over.

Custance notes that one player who would suffer because of this would be Rick Nash.

He writes that most people think that Scott Howson will wait until Parise signs to trade Nash to a team that lost out on signing the Devils captain and that a delay in signing for Parise would have a negative impact on the market for Rick Nash.

Custance adds, ” It’s also possible that a team that senses it doesn’t have a shot at Parise decides to beat the rush to trade for Nash and overwhelms Howson with an offer. So far, that hasn’t happened.”